Mystery Spot
by Dede42
Summary: When the Winchesters arrive in Broward County, Florida to investigate the disappearance of a man who debunks so-call Mystery Spots, Liz sudden falls unconscious, and Sam finds himself repeating the same day over and over again, the loop starting over every time Dean dies. Can Sam break the loop without losing his brother and will Liz ever wake up?
1. Chapter 1: TUESDAY AGAIN!

Supernatural: Mystery Spot

A/N: Hello! Now, I know that this particular story should be taking place later in the season, but I really wanted to do it, especially since I came up with some neat twists.

Read, review, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from _Supernatural_ or _Criminal Minds_ ; I just own the characters that I happen to create.

* * *

 **CHAPTER ONE: TUESDAY AGAIN?!**

" _For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief."_

 _Proverbs 24:16_

Broward County, Florida

Monday night…

It was 8pm when the Winchesters pulled into a parking spot at a local motel and they got out of the Impala, stretching after a long drive.

"Okay, Sam and I will get checked in, and you stay with the car, Liz," Dean told his twin before heading to the office with Sam.

"Sure," Liz agreed and leaned against the car to wait while examining a newspaper article that Sam had found online that'd hinted at a possible case in the area, and was unaware that she was being watched.

* * *

A few minutes later, Sam and Dean returned with a set of keys to room 215. "All right, let's get our stuff inside and get some dinner."

Agreeing with that, they opened the trunk to get their bags out, and both Sam and Dean headed up the stairs while Liz struggled with one of her bags, which had gotten caught on something.

"Come on, you stupid thing," Liz muttered, reaching further in and felt around until she found that the strap had gotten caught on a loose nail. "Got ya." Grinning, she got the strap freed and was straightening up when she became aware of a strange whispering sound.

"What the-?" she began turning around when she felt a light touch on the back of her neck and she fell into darkness instead.

* * *

Sam came out of the bathroom and was surprised to see that Liz wasn't in the motel room yet. "Hey, where's Liz?"

Dean, who was digging through one of his bags for his toothbrush, looked up, and was surprised that their sister was still outside. "Huh, that bag must be giving her more trouble then usual. Well, let's go help her."

Agreeing, they went back outside, down the stairs, and were alarmed to see that Liz was sprawled on the ground behind the car, clearly unconscious.

"Liz!"

"Oh god!"

Running forward, Dean reached their sister first, knelt down, and began checking for any sign to indicate an attack while Sam made sure that her pulse was still strong. "Liz? Come on, sis, wake up."

"I don't see any trauma, do you?" Sam asked, shaking her shoulder but getting no reaction. "Dean?"

Dean shook his head, worried. "Nothin', what's going on around here?"

"I don't know," Sam admitted, pulling out his cell phone and called 911. "Hello? I have an emergency…"

* * *

Broward General Medical Center

Fort Lauderdale, Broward County, Florida…

It was after 11pm by the time Sam and Dean were able to talk to the head doctor about what was wrong with their sister and if she was going to be all right.

"I'm Dr. Wright, and I have the results of the tests concerning your sister, Elizabeth," said a tall, Hispanic man in his mid-thirties and wearing the usual white doctor coat and scrubs.

"Do you know what's wrong with Liz?" Sam asked, fearing the worse if she didn't recover from whatever this was.

"Well, nothing seems physically wrong," Dr. Wright admitted, checking the chart, "only that she seems to be in a coma of some kind, and from what you both reported, she didn't show any signs of distress before you found her?"

"None," Dean answered. "I mean…yeah, we all were tired from driving for so long, but other than that, nothin' out of the ordinary."

"Dr. Wright, will Liz be waking up anytime soon?" Sam asked.

Dr. Wright sighed. "To be perfectly honest, I don't know for sure, but as long as her vitals remain strong, and her brain activity remains consistent, she may very well wake up in a couple of days."

While that wasn't the best news for Dean and Sam, it was better than nothing, and they weren't going to leave the county, or even the state, until they knew that Liz was going to be all right. After confirming where they were staying and providing contact numbers, the brothers had no choice but to return to their motel, get some rest, and work the case.

* * *

"Do you think it could be the Menae?" Sam asked once they were back in the motel room, having gotten some food on the way despite Dean insisting that he wasn't hungry.

"I don't think so," said Dean, pacing and thinking. "I talked to a nurse while we were waiting and she wasn't aware of any children falling into a deep sleep and not waking up in the last few weeks, or of any new flower shops opening up, either."

Sam sighed, agreeing with Dean's emotional frustration. "Well, I guess we just work the case and hope that Liz will wake up in a couple of days. But I'll call Bobby and see if he can come up with anything that might help explain what's going on."

"Good idea," Dean agreed, and then took a big bite out of his hamburger with some hope that everything would turn out all right in the end.

* * *

Tuesday morning…

Sam was sleeping peacefully in his bed-

 _`"Heat of the moment!"`_

Sam's eyes snapped open and he immediately sat up, glaring at the alarm clock that'd been set for 8 am.

"Rise and shine, Sammy!" Dean said cheerfully from the other bed, where he was already dressed and was tying on his boots while bopping his head to the music, and he didn't seem to be worried that their sister was in a strange coma at the hospital.

"Dude," Sam said, hardly amused. "Asia?"

"Come on, you love this song," Dean teased, grinning like a hyper five-year-old on a sugar rush, "and you _know it_."

Sam rolled his eyes. "Yeah, and if I _ever_ hear it again I'm gonna kill myself," he said sarcastically, wishing that Liz was there to rein their brother in.

Dean responded by turning up the volume. "What? Sorry, couldn't hear you." And he started bopping along again, and Sam shook his head before mentally turning the alarm off, making his brother pout.

"Spoil sport," Dean grumbled while finishing off his boots and headed for the bathroom.

Sam snorted, got out of bed, and got dressed while glancing wistfully at Liz's bags, which were stacked next to the closest at his insistence. _'Man, Liz, I_ really _wish you were here right now.'_ And he went into the bathroom to brush his teeth, ignoring Dean, who was gargling loudly.

* * *

After Dean found his gun, which Sam had _accidentally_ put inside the air vent the night before, they left the motel and walked five blocks to the nearest diner for breakfast, and Dean joked of how Liz would've hidden his gun in the freezer, which made Sam laughed since their sister had actually done that to them both as an April Fool's joke when they were younger, and even their dad had laughed at the sight of his shotgun, _somehow_ , ending up in the freezer.

"Did he ever figure out how Liz managed to do that?" Sam asked as they entered the diner, where the cashier was giving an elderly man his change and a warning.

"Drive safely now, Mr. Pickett."

"Yeah, yeah," Mr. Pickett grumbled as he turned away, pocketing his change and pulling out his car keys.

"Order up!" shouted the cook in the back.

"Don't think so," Dean said shrugging as they walked past the counter, where three men were sitting and two were eating; the third and youngest was fingering some change moodily since it was obvious that he didn't have much to spend and the waitress, Doris, was lecturing him.

"Can't stay unless you order something, Cal," she reminded him. "You know the rules."

After a few seconds, Cal sighed and passed her some of the change. "Some coffee."

Finding an empty booth, they both sat down and waited for the waitress to come; while they waited, Dean glanced at the posters and pointed to one, grinning. "Hey. Tuesday. Pig in a poke."

Sam made a face at the name and he was certain that Liz would probably be objecting right now. "You even _know_ what that is?"

Before Dean could respond, Doris walked up with a couple of menus. "You boys ready?"

Dean nodded. "Yes. I'll have the special, side of bacon and a coffee."

"Make it two coffees and a short stack," Sam added.

Doris nodded, wrote down the orders and walked away. "You got it."

Once she was out of earshot, Dean switched to business mode. "Okay, _remind_ me of why we're here again, besides trying to figure out what did that to Liz?"

"We're _here_ to find a missing professor, jerk," Sam retorted and pulled out a stack of papers, and on the top of the pile were newspaper clippings: MISSING – DEXTER HASSELBACK LAST SEEN IN BROWARD, FLORIDA. "Professor Dexter Hasselback was passing through town last week when he vanished."

"Last known location?" Dean asked, pulling some of the papers, including a yellow flyer toward him to look at.

"His daughter says he was on his way to visit the Broward County Mystery Spot," Sam answered.

Raising his eyebrows, Dean turned over the flyer and read what was on it; the front had a large question mark and the words "Broward County Mystery Spot". On the back was "E=MC2?", "A=πR2?", and "F=GM1M2/R22?" He then looked below the lines and read aloud. "Where the laws of physics have no meaning…oh you've _got_ to be joking, Sam."

Just then, Doris arrived with a tray with two coffees and a bottle of hot sauce. "Two coffees, black," she said, setting down the two cups, "and some hot sauce for the-" and she gasped when the hot sauce fell off the tray and smashed on the floor, making both Sam and Dean wince slightly. "Whoops. Crap! Sorry," she added for her language and turned to get a mop. "Cleanup!"

* * *

Once they had their breakfast without any other incidents, Sam and Dean started back toward their motel, talking about the case, and walked past a dog that barked at them as Dean took back the flyer for another look.

"Sam, joints like this are only tourist traps, right?" he pointed out. "I mean, you know, balls rolling uphill, furniture nailed to the ceiling, they're only dangerous to your wallet."

Sam rolled his eyes. "Okay, look, I'm just saying, there are spots in the world where holes open up and swallow people. The Bermuda Triangle, uh, the Oregon Vortex-"

"Broward County Mystery Spot?" Dean asked skeptically.

Sam shrugged. "Well sometimes these places are legit."

Dean sighed, having to agree with that, and he knew that Liz would agree, too. "All right, so if it is legit, and that's a big-ass if, what's the lore?"

"Well-" Sam began when Dean collided with a blonde woman, who was carrying a stack of papers.

"Excuse me."

"The lore's pretty frigging nuts, actually," Sam continued once Dean was done staring after the woman, although it took a well-place elbow in the ribs to do it. "They _say_ that in these places the magnetic fields are so strong that they can bend space/time, sending victims no one knows where."

"Sounds a little _X-Files_ to me," Dean commented as they passed two movers, who were trying to get a desk in a narrow doorway.

"I _told_ you it wouldn't fit," one mover complained.

The second mover scowled. "What do you want, a _Pulitzer_?"

"I was thinking more of _Doctor Who_ ," Sam countered and Dean clucked. "All right, look, I'm not saying this is really happening, but if it is, we gotta check it out, see if we can do something. And until Liz wakes up-"

"All right, all right," Dean cut in, "we'll go tonight, after they close, get ourselves a nice _long_ look."

* * *

Later that night, Sam and Dean quietly broke into the building that contained the so-call Mystery Spot and, after turning on their flashlights, found themselves standing in a neon green hallway that had a black double spiral painted on the walls.

Exchanging a look, Sam pulled out their EMF reader and started up the hallway with Dean leading the way with his flashlight. Soon they entered a room where a table, lamp, and ashtray were attached upside-down to the ceiling.

"Wow," Dean said sarcastically. " _Uncanny_."

Ignoring him, Sam examined another table with a wine glass and a poultry dinner, only this one was at an angle to the floor.

"Find anything?" Dean asked as they continued searching the room and examining the other strange things in it.

Sam frowned at the unresponsive EMF meter, wondering if it was broken. "No."

Dean wasn't too surprised by that answer and snorted. "You have _any_ idea what you're looking for?"

"Uh, yeah," Sam began and then faltered when Dean raised his eyebrows. "No," he finally admitted and Dean shook his head, annoyed.

"Well, since there's clearly _nothin'_ here, I vote we leave, get some sleep and hope that Liz wakes up soon," Dean suggested and Sam reluctantly agreed, and they turned to go-

"What the _hell_ are you doing here?" a voice demanded from behind them.

Both Sam and Dean turned around, and Dean pointed his flashlight and handgun at the voice; it was the owner, who had a gun aimed at Dean.

Realizing this, Dean quickly pointed his gun elsewhere and lowered his flashlight. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, we can explain."

Scared, the owner then pointed the gun at Sam, who had his hands raised. "You robbing me?"

"Look, nobody's robbing you, calm down," Sam answered honestly, gently nudging the man's mind, but was surprised to find that something was blocking his ability. _'What the-?'_

Suddenly, the owner pointed the gun back at Dean, who had been trying to put his own gun on the floor. "Don't move!"

Dean froze, equally surprised that Sam's Jedi mind trick hadn't worked either since he could tell when Sam was using it…most of the time. "Just putting the gun down."

Unfortunately the owner was so nervous that he accidentally fired, the buckshot slammed into Dean's chest, knocking him to the floor.

"Dean!" Sam shouted, dropping both his flashlight and the EMF reader as he rushed over to his brother, who was struggling to breathe, and tried to put pressure on the wound. "Come on, Dean, stay with me," he pleaded before turning to the owner, who was staring in shock. "Hey! Call 911."

"I-I didn't mean to-" the owner began, panicking.

"Now!" Sam ordered, his Jedi ability _finally_ working as the owner bolted; breathing hard, he turned back to his dying brother, terrified. "Hey, hey, oh, no, no, no, not like this…" but it was too late as Dean stopped breathing and his eyes slowly closed; devastated, Sam began crying and buried his face into his brother's jacket. "Dean…Dean…"

* * *

 _`"Heat of the moment!"`_

Sam's eyes snapped open and he sat up and stared around the motel room in confusion. What was he doing in the bed? Was he having a bad dream?

"Rise and shine, Sammy!" Dean announced, making him jump; once again, Dean was sitting on the other bed, tying his boots.

Sam stared at him, wondering how his brother could be alive when he just saw him die, and then at the clock radio blankly.

"Dude. Asia," Dean laughed, oblivious to his brother's confused expression.

Sam began breathing hard. "Dean."

"Oh, come on, you _love_ this song and you _know it_ ," Dean cut in, turning the volume up and started bopping along, looking forward to a great day with the hope that Liz would be awake soon.

Meanwhile, Sam just sat in the bed, confused beyond belief before finally getting out and getting dressed in clean clothes. He _had_ been dreaming, hadn't he?

* * *

In the bathroom, Dean was gargling loudly and annoying; Sam, on the other hand, just drank some water, swished, and spit into the sink.

Dean noticed his brother's lack of reaction and spit out his mouthful. "What? You worry about Liz?"

Sam shook his head, wondering why this all seemed so familiar. "I don't know."

"You all right?" Dean asked, concerned.

"I think I-" Sam began and paused. "Man, I had a _weird_ dream."

"Yeah? Clowns or midgets?" Dean asked and Sam scowled, before dumping the remaining water in his cup on his sibling's head, making him yelp in protest.

"Sam!"

* * *

A few minutes later, they were walking to the nearby diner with Sam still confused and Dean was, once again, completely oblivious that something was wrong with his brother. They entered the diner just as Mr. Pickett was leaving, stuffing his change into his pockets and pulling out his keys.

"Drive safely now, Mr. Pickett."

"Yeah, yeah."

Sam stared around, bewildered as they walked past the same counter with the same three men to find a booth, and Doris was lecturing Cal about the same thing.

"Can't stay unless you order something, Cal. You know the rules."

Sighing, Cal passed her some of the change. "Coffee."

As they sat down in the same booth, at least Sam _thought_ it was the same booth, and waited to give their orders. Dean noticed a poster on the wall and grinned.

"Hey. Tuesday. Pig in a poke."

Startled, Sam glanced between his brother and the poster, which was the same one from last time. "It's Tuesday? But I thought it was Tuesday yesterday…wasn't it?"

Dean frowned, wondering what was going on with his brother. "No, yesterday was _Monday,_ and today is _Tuesday_."

Just then, Doris walked up. "Are you boys ready?"

Dean nodded. "Yes, I'll have the special, side of bacon and a coffee."

 _'How can it be Tuesday again?'_ Sam wondered before focusing on the present…such as it was. "Uh, nothing for me, thanks."

"Let me know if you change your mind," Doris told him before walking away.

"Okay, _remind_ me of why we're here again, besides trying to figure out what did that to Liz," Dean requested, only to find that Sam was staring after Doris. "Sam? Hey." And he snapped his fingers at his brother, making him jump. "You with me?"

Sam looked at him blankly for a moment. "What?"

"You sure you feeling okay?" Dean asked, once again concerned.

Sam sighed. "You don't — you don't remember? Any of this?" he asked.

Now Dean had a blank look on his face. "Remember what?"

"This," Sam said, gesturing around the diner. "Today. Like it's — like it's happened before?"

Dean pondered this. "You mean like déjà vu?"

"No," Sam said, "I mean like, like it's really happened before."

Dean nodded. "Yeah. Like déjà vu."

"No, forget about déjà vu," Sam snapped, almost losing his temper. "I'm asking you if it feels like, like we're living yesterday all over again."

Dean frowned, confused. "Okay, how is that not dé-"

"Don't, don't say it!" Sam growled. "Just don't even…"

"Coffee, black," Doris announced, returning and setting down a single cup of coffee, "and some hot sauce for the — oops! Crap!" as the tray wobbled and the hot sauce began to fall-

Sam caught it and Doris gasped; he stared at the bottle in his hand for a moment and gave it back.

"Thanks," Doris said gratefully, put the bottle down and walked away.

"Nice reflexes," Dean commented, but Sam didn't say anything. What the _hell_ was going on around here?

* * *

Just like last time, the dog barked at them as they passed, a blonde woman bumped into Dean, and the two movers were trying to get the large desk through a door that was clearly not big enough.

"Sam, I'm sorry," Dean apologized, "but I don't know what the _hell_ you're talking about."

Sam sighed, trying to explain it…again. "Okay, look, yesterday was Tuesday, right? But today is Tuesday too."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Yeah. No. Good. You're _totally_ balanced."

Sam pouted. "So you don't believe me?"

Dean laughed while privately wishing that Liz were there to help figure out what was going on with their little brother. "Look, I'm just saying that it's crazy, you know, I mean, even for us crazy. Dingo ate my baby crazy. Hey, maybe it was another of your psychic premonitions."

"No it wasn't anything like that since I don't get visions anymore," Sam reminded him, "and anyway, it was _way_ too vivid. Okay, look, we were at the Mystery Spot, and then-" _'And then you died.'_

"And then what?" Dean asked after a few seconds had passed.

"Then I woke up," Sam lied, not wanting to admit that he'd seen his brother die right in front of him, and that something had kept him from nudging the owner's mind at that _exact_ moment. "Wait a minute! The Mystery Spot. You think maybe it-"

"Maybe what?" Dean asked, wondering where his brother was going with this.

"We gotta check that place out, man," Sam said, and noted his brother's concerned expression. "Look, just, go with me on this, okay?"

Dean nodded, deciding to play along. "All right, all right, we'll go tonight, after it closes, get ourselves a nice _long_ look."

Sam panicked when he heard those words. "Wait, what? No."

Now Dean was _really_ confused. "Why not?"

Sam swallowed, thinking fast. "Uh. Let's just go now. Right now. Business hours, nice and crowded."

Dean stared at his brother, surprised. "My _God_ , you're a freak." And winced when Sam scowled and kicked him in the shin. "Ow! Okay. Whatever. We'll go now." He then headed for the street, glancing to the right-

 _WHAM!_

Out of nowhere, a car slammed into him from his left.

Sam jumped backward as the car screeched to a halt, the breaks screaming, and then he ran toward his brother's unmoving body. "Dean!" he fell to his knees, ignoring everything else. "Dean, no, no, no. Not again, not again." There was blood on his brother's face and he carefully turned him over and picked him up. "Come on, Dean," he pleaded as Mr. Pickett leaned out of the car window, but Sam was focused on his brother, who was dead…again. "Dean. Dean-"

* * *

 _`"Heat of the moment!"`_

Sam's eyes snapped open and he sat up in motel bed. Again.

"Rise and shine, Sammy!"

Dean was alive again, and Sam looked at the alarm clock, confirming his worse fears.

T-U-E

Yeah it was Tuesday _all over_ again.

* * *

A/N: Now, I haven't seen _Groundhog's Day_ all the way through just yet, but other shows have referenced that movie, and that's why this is one of my favorite episodes for the third season of _Supernatural_. R &R everyone!


	2. Chapter 2: LIKE GROUNDHOG'S DAY?

Supernatural: Mystery Spot

A/N: It's me again! So Halloween went pretty well and my dad surprised me by buying me a red wig since I ended up going as Batgirl instead of Elsa from Frozen. Hopefully, my Elsa costume will be ready for comic con in March. Read, review, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from _Supernatural_ or _Criminal Minds_ ; I just own the characters that I happen to create.

* * *

 **CHAPTER TWO: "LIKE GROUNDHOG'S DAY?"**

" _Is ther_ e _any_ _thing whereof it may be said, See, this_ _is_ _new? It hath been already of old time, which was before us."_

 _Ecclesiastes 1:10_

Dean noticed the poster and grinned. "Hey. Tuesday. Pig in a poke."

"Would you _listen_ to me, Dean?" Sam pleaded. "Because I am _flipping_ out."

"Are you boys ready?" Doris asked, walking up.

"He'll take the special, side of bacon, coffee, black, nothing for me, thanks," Sam quoted from memory of the last two times.

Doris wrote all of that down and nodded before leaving to place the order. "You got it."

"Sammy, I get all tingly when you take control like that," Dean teased.

Sam scowled, not in the mood. "Quit screwing around, Dean."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Okay, okay, I'm listening. So, so you think that you're in some kind of a-?"

"Time loop," Sam responded, hoping to get through his brother's thick head this time.

"Like _Groundhog Day_ ," Dean guessed.

Sam nodded. "Yes, _exactly_ , like _Groundhog Day_."

Dean nodded, but he didn't look convinced. "Uh-huh."

Sam sighed, sensing the skepticism. "So you don't believe me."

Dean shrugged. "It's just a little crazy. "I mean even for us crazy, you know, like, uh-"

"Dingo ate my baby crazy?" Sam finished.

"How'd you know I was going to say that?" Dean asked, surprised.

"Because you said it before, Dean," Sam explained, "that's my whole point."

Just then, Doris came back with the food order. "Coffee, black, and some hot sauce for the – whoops! Crap."

Without even looking, Sam caught the hot sauce and handed it back to the woman.

"Thanks," Doris said, putting down the hot sauce and left.

Dean was impressed. "Nice reflexes."

"No," Sam grumbled. "I knew it was going to happen."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Okay, look, I'm sure there's some sort of an explanation-"

Sam shook his head. "There _isn't_ ," he growled. "You're just going to have to go with me on this, Dean, you just have to, you owe me that much."

"Calm down," Dean suggested, surprised by just how worked up his brother was. _'Man, he's_ seriously _wigging out here.'_

"Don't tell me to calm down," Sam snapped. "I can't calm down. I can't. Because-"

"Because what?" Dean asked.

Sam sighed and admitted the truth, mainly to himself. "Because you die today, Dean."

Dean blinked and then shook his head, bemused. "I'm not gonna die. Not today."

"Twice now I've watched you die, and I can't," Sam explained, dejectedly. "I won't do it again, okay? You're just going to have to believe me. _Please_."

Dean stared at his brother for a moment, realizing that he was serious about all of this, and nodded. "All right," he agreed. "I still think you're nuts, but okay, whatever this is, we'll figure it out." And Sam was grateful for that.

* * *

After explaining _everything_ to Dean about what'd happen the last two times, including how he'd died both times, they left the diner and headed out for the Mystery Spot, which involved keeping him from being hit by Mr. Pickett's car for a second time.

* * *

At the Mystery Spot, they interviewed the owner, a Mr. Kopiak, and it became _very_ _obvious_ that the whole place was one big hoax and a waste of their time, even though it still didn't explain the disappearance of Dexter Hasselback, Liz's strange coma, and the two times that Dean had died so far.

"I hate to say it," Dean stated as they headed back to the motel, "but that place is _exactly_ what I thought. Full of crap."

"Then what is it, Dean?" Sam asked desperately. "What the _hell_ is happening to us?

"I don't know," Dean confessed. "But whatever it is, it must have something to do with what happen to Liz right?" and Sam nodded. "All right, lemme just, so, every day I die."

Sam nodded. "Yeah."

"And that's when you wake up again, right?" Dean asked and Sam nodded again. "So let's just make sure I don't die. If I make it to tomorrow, then maybe the loop stops and we can figure all this out, and just maybe, we'll be able to wake up Liz, too."

"You think?" Sam asked with some faint hope.

Dean shrugged. "Worth a shot. I say we grab some takeout and head back to the motel, lay low until midnight." And Sam agreed. "All right, good. Who wants Chinese?" he started walking again-

 _SLAM!_

Sam stared in shock as his brother was flattened by a falling desk Wile E Coyote style. The movers, one was holding the other end of the snapped rope and the other up in the window, also stared, mortified by what they'd done.

' _Oh god,'_ Sam thought, shutting his eyes tightly for what was going to happen next…

* * *

 _`"Heat of the moment!"`_

Sam opened his eyes, glared evilly at the alarm clock, looked at Dean, who was once again alive with no memory of what was to come, and then covered his own face with his pillow. _'Just put me out of my misery_ now _please.'_

Barely an hour later, Dean choked on the sausage that he'd ordered with his food.

* * *

 _`"Heat of the moment!"`_

Sam told Dean that they were staying in the motel room, and two seconds later his brother slipped and killed himself in the shower.

* * *

 _`"Heat of the moment!"`_

Staying in the motel again, Sam ordered tacos for their lunch.

"These tacos taste funny to you?" Dean asked after taking a bite.

* * *

 _`"Heat of the moment!"`_

Sam didn't even get out of the bed, and only listened as Dean plugged in his electric razor and was electrocuted.

* * *

 _`"Heat of the moment!"`_

Sam tied up the owner and took an axe to the walls of the Mystery Spot, determined to find the reason for the stupid time loop, and Dean stood next to the terrified owner, concerned for his brother's sanity. _'Man, I wish you were here right now, Liz. Sam has gone bye-bye.'_

"Everybody's fine, nobody's gonna get hurt, okay? Sammy?" Dean told the duct-taped owner as Sam stopped to look at him. "Maybe you should drop the axe and let this guy go, what do you say?" he suggested hopefully.

Sam shook his head. "Something's gotta be going on here. I intend to find out what." And he went back to swinging the axe at the walls.

"Place is tore up pretty good, dude," Dean remarked, eying the damage. "Time to give it a rest."

" _NO!_ " Sam shouted, swinging the axe into the nearest wall and tore a large clunk out of it. "I'm gonna take it down to studs."

Sighing, Dean walked toward his brother. "Sammy, that's enough give me the axe."

"Leave it, Dean."

"Give it."

"No, you give it."

"Let it go."

"No."

"Let it go, come on!"

"Dean, leave it, please-" and seconds later, the owner was splashed with blood and he started screaming through the duct tape. "Dean? Oh no…"

* * *

 _`"Heat of the moment!"`_

Sam decided to have them go visit Liz at the hospital and they got into a car wreck that left Dean dead.

* * *

By the time that it was Tuesday, _again_ , Sam had tried just about everything to break the loop, including blowing up the Mystery spot MythBusters style, which didn't work out too well since Dean ended up getting caught in the blast somehow.

Dejected, he followed Dean into the diner, accidentally bumping into Mr. Pickett before walking past the counter and joining his brother at the booth.

"Hey. Tuesday," Dean said grinning, spotting the sign. "Pig in a poke."

Not even reacting, Sam put a set of keys on the table; Dean looked at them, and then at his brother, confused. "What are those?"

"The old man's," Sam answered gloomily. "Trust me, you don't want him behind the wheel."

"You boys ready?" Doris asked, walking up.

Dean blinked, startled, and then smiled at her. "Uh, yes, we are. I'll have the special, side of bacon and a coffee."

"Hey, Doris? What I'd like is for you to log in some more hours at the archery range," Sam suggested, recalling the arrow to the throat incident. "You're a _terrible_ shot."

"How'd you know that?" Doris asked, surprised.

Sam shrugged. "Lucky guess." And Doris walked away, unnerved.

Dean frowned, having watched the whole thing. "Okay, so you think you're caught in some kind of what, again?"

"Time loop," Sam answered.

Dean thought about that. "Like _Groundhog Day_."

"Doesn't matter," Sam sighed. "There's no way to stop it."

"Jeez, aren't you grumpy," Dean remarked.

"Yeah, I am," Sam snapped, having had enough. "You wanna know why? Because this is the hundredth Tuesday in a row I've been through, and it _never_ stops, and until it _does_ stop, Liz won't ever wake up. Ever. So yeah, I'm a little grumpy. Hot sauce."

"What?" Dean asked, just as Doris arrived with the coffee and hot sauce.

"Coffee, black, and some hot sauce for the – whoops! Crap!" Sam, like the hundreds of times before, caught the hot sauce and slid it across the table.

"Thanks," Doris said, walking away again.

"Nice reflexes," Dean teased.

"I _knew_ it was going to happen, Dean," Sam snapped. "I know _everything_ that's gonna happen."

Dean scoffed. "You don't know everything."

"Yeah, I do," countered Sam seriously.

"Yeah, right," Dean said and Sam parroted him word for word. "Nice guess." And Sam did it again.

"It wasn't a guess," Sam said snidely, already knowing that Dean was going to get childish about the whole thing, and easily parroted him word for word and motion for motion.

"Right, you're a mind reader, now," Dean said. "Cut it out, Sam. Sam." And they lean toward each other simultaneously. "You think you're being funny but you're being really, _really_ childish! Sam Winchester wears makeup. Sam Winchester cries his way through sex. Sam Winchester keeps a ruler by the bed and every morning when he wakes up he-"

Finally, Dean threw up his hands in defeat, realizing that Sam was right, _every single time_. "Okay, enough!"

"That's not all," Sam added and nodded toward the counter. "Randy the cashier? He's skimming from the register."

Dean glanced at the counter and his eyes widened in shock when he saw that Randy was indeed taking a couple of dollars from the register and slipping it under his apron.

"Judge Myers?" Sam continued. "At night he puts on a furry bunny outfit." And the old man sitting closest to them, Judge Myers, overheard, and accidentally knocked over his glass.

Dean was feeling _very_ confused by now as Sam nodded at Cal, who was moping over his coffee. "Over there, that's Cal. He's gonna rob Tony the mechanic on the way home."

"What's your point?" Dean asked, blown by all of this.

"My point is I've lived through _every_ possible Tuesday," Sam explained tiredly. "I've watched you die _every_ possible way, including the two times I tried to get us to visit Liz. I have ripped apart the Mystery Spot, burnt it down, _blown_ it up, tried everything I've _tried_ to save your life and I can't. No matter what I _do_ , you die. And then I wake up. And then it's _Tuesday_ again."

"Man," Dean said slowly, realizing just how hard his brother was taking all of this crap. "I'm sorry, but I _promise_ that we'll find a way out of this and wake Liz up."

Sam smiled sadly, having heard that promise before, too. "I know."

After a stressful breakfast, they left the diner and Sam showed off more of what he knew. "Dog." And the dog barked and whimpered as they passed.

"There's gotta be some way out of this," Dean muttered, thinking.

"'Where's my dang keys'?" Sam said quietly as they passed Mr. Pickett.

"Where's my dang keys?" Mr. Pickett grumbled, searching his pockets fruitlessly.

"'Excuse me'," Sam said, just as Dean collided with the blonde woman.

"Excuse me," she said, walking past with the papers.

Dean watched her go. "She's kinda cute." Getting an idea, he put out a hand to stop his brother. "Hey. All the times we've walked down this street, I ever do this?" and he headed back the way they came to talk to the blonde woman. "'Scuse me, miss!"

Sam stared after him, surprised and delighted since this was new. "No."

The blond woman gave Dean one of her papers, which had a picture and the word "MISSING" printed on the front.

"Hundred Tuesdays and you never bothered to check what she was holding in her hands?" Dean asked and Sam shrugged since it'd never crossed his mind, and Dean held up the flyer. "It's the guy who went missing."

Sam stared at the name "DEXTER HASSELBACK" under the picture from the newspaper clipping. "Yeah?"

Dean nodded to the woman. "That's his daughter back there."

Excited, Sam grabbed the flyer and ran after the blonde woman. "Ma'am?"

Dean smirked, watching his brother talk with the woman, and then the dog began growling and barking. "Hey buddy!" he said brightly, bending down to pet the dog. "Somebody need a friend? Good boy – aaah!" Dean was now dog chow.

* * *

At the diner once again, Dean was eating his breakfast and Sam was doing research on the laptop. Behind them there was a man eating pancakes and reading a newspaper, with a thing of pink syrup container next to his plate.

"So the police report says Dexter Hasselback is a professor, but that's not all he is," Sam told his brother, having used a couple of Tuesday cycles to find what he needed, and had memorized it all as the cycle repeated itself each time.

"What is he?" Dean asked, sipping his coffee.

"I talked to his daughter and had Garcia do some searching for me," Sam explained as the man left. "Guy's quite the journalist. Columns in magazines, a blog. He writes about tourist attractions. Mystery spots, UFO crash sites – he gets his kicks debunking them. I mean…he's already put _four_ of these places out of business. Here." He then turned the laptop and on the screen was the biography of the author of the blog "The Hasselback Report" with a picture of Hasselback and a headline which Dean read aloud.

"Dexter Hasselback, truth warrior?" he laughed. "More like a pompous schmuck, you ask me."

"Yeah, tell me about it," Sam agreed, closing his laptop. "I mean, I've read everything the guy's ever written, and he must have weighed a ton, he was _so_ full of himself."

"When'd you have time to do all this research?" Dean asked, interested.

Sam ignored the question, grabbing his bag. "Come on." He put away his laptop and Dean chuckled as they left the booth. "What?"

"I just, it's just funny, you know," Dean remarked. "I mean, this guy spends his _whole_ life crapping on Mystery Spots and then he _vanishes_ into one. It's kinda poetic, you know, just desserts."

"You're right," Sam agreed, realizing something that he hadn't noticed before. "That _is_ just desserts." He happened to glance at the man's abandoned plate. It had a partial pancake and pink syrup instead of the usual brown syrup.

"What's wrong?" Dean asked, noting his brother's sudden change of expression. "Sam?"

Sam watched the man as he walked by the diner windows. "That guy has had maple syrup for the last _hundred_ Tuesdays, and all of a sudden he's having strawberry?"

Dean shrugged. "It's a free country. Man can't choose his own syrup, huh? What have we become?"

Sam shook his head, frowning. "Not in this diner. Not today. Nothing in this place ever changes. _Ever_. Except me." _'And if that guy is who I_ think _he is, then it'll explain a lot.'_

* * *

A/N: Hmm, who do you think that guy could be? Post your guess in a review and see if you're right next week. R&R everyone!


	3. Chapter 3: RETURN OF THE TRICKSTER

Supernatural: Mystery Spot

A/N: I will admit that I _am_ disappointed by the lack of reviews so far and that no one guessed who is targeting the Winchesters. Any how, I hope you will enjoy this next chapter, and it'll get your minds off the aftermath of the election. I have one request: When you post a review, please don't fill it with complaints about the results of the election. I get, people are angry that Trump is the next president, but I don't want to hear your grumblings, okay? Read, review, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from _Supernatural_ or _Criminal Minds_ ; I just own the characters that I happen to create.

* * *

 **CHAPTER THREE: RETURN OF THE TRICKSTER**

" _And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it_ _shall_ _be_ _for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err_ _therein_ _."_

 _Isaiah 35:8_

 _`"Heat of the moment!"`_

Sam sat up and glared at the alarm clock, mulling over his plan.

"Rise and shine, Sammy!" Dean said cheerfully, sitting on the other bed, and tying his boots once again. "Dude. Asia."

"I know," Sam grumbled, throwing his pillow at Dean, who yelped, and got out of bed to get dressed…again.

* * *

At the diner, Dean thought he saw Sam steal a set of keys from Mr. Pickett and toss them into the trash, but put it out of his mind as they sat down in the booth across from the man eating pancakes, with maple syrupy once again, and reading the morning paper. It was when Sam caught the hot sauce bottle without even looking at it, and set it on the table before resuming his watch of the pancake eating man that Dean began suspecting that something odd was going on with his brother, and there might be some truth to what he'd just been told.

"So you think you're caught in some kind of what, again?" he asked.

"Eat your breakfast," Sam ordered, watching as the man left. Grabbing his bag, he quickly followed.

"What's in the bag?" Dean asked, standing up, tossed some money on the table, and then followed. "Sam?" _'What the_ hell _has gotten into him now?'_

* * *

By the time Dean got outside, Sam had pulled out a wooden stake that had blood on the end, and was closing in on the man. "Sam?"

Ignoring his brother, Sam grabbed the guy by the shoulder, slammed him into the fence, and put the tip of the wooden stake to his throat.

"Hey!" the man yelped as Dean ran up. "What're you doing?!"

"I know _who_ you are," Sam growled. "Or should I say, _what_ you are."

"Oh my god," the man moaned, "please don't kill me."

"Uh, Sam-?" Dean began, uncertain of what his brother was doing.

"I was _so_ stressed out by everything, and confused when my mind control didn't work the first time around, I'd forgotten about my _other_ abilities," Sam growled. "So, it took me a _hell_ of a long time but I got it."

"What?" the man asked, shaking in Sam's grip and keeping a wary eye on the stake.

"It's your MO that gave you away," snapped Sam, his anger mounting. "Going after pompous jerks, giving them their _just desserts_ – your kind _loves_ that, don't they?"

The man swallowed and nodded, deciding to play along. "Yeah, sure, okay." He glanced nervously at the stake. "Just put the stake down!"

"Sam, maybe you should-" Dean began.

"No!" Sam shouted, tightening his grip on the stake. "There's only _one_ creature powerful enough to do what you're doing. Making reality out of nothing, putting our sister into a coma, sticking people in time loops – in fact you'd pretty much have to be a _god_. You'd have to be a _Trickster_."

Dean froze when he heard that. A Trickster? Again?

"Mister, my name is E-Ed Coleman, my wife's name is Amelia, I got two kids," Ed stammered. "For crying out loud I sell ad space-"

"Don't _lie_ to me!" Sam roared. "You _don't_ have human emotions! I know _what_ you are! We've _killed_ one of your kind before!"

And right before their eyes, Ed morphed into the trickster and grinned while the Winchesters stared, stunned into silence. Loki!

"Actually, bucko," Loki said cheerfully, "you didn't."

Both Dean and Sam gaped at the sight of Loki, who was grinning brightly at them, and for several seconds, unsure of what to say or how to act. _How_ was this guy still alive?

" _Why_ are you doing this?" Sam demanded, keeping the pressure on the stake. "And _what_ did you do to our sister?"

Loki laughed. "You're joking, right? You chuckleheads tried to _kill_ me last time," he reminded them. "Why _wouldn't_ I do this? And as for Elizabeth? I thought she could use a break from you two jerks and _actually_ get caught up on her sleep."

Dean scowled. "And Hasselback, what about him?"

"That putz?" Loki scoffed. "He said he didn't believe in wormholes, so I dropped him in one." He then laughed at their annoyed expressions. "Then you guys showed up. I made you the _second_ you hit town."

"So this is fun for you?" Sam snarled. "Putting Liz in the hospital? Killing Dean over and over again?"

"One, yes. It is fun," Loki confirmed. "Two, like I said, I figure that Elizabeth could use a break from having to do damage control with you two constantly. And three? This is _so_ not about killing Dean. This joke is on you, Sam. Watching your brother die, every day? Forever?"

Sam tightened his grip on the stake. "You son of a bitch."

Loki laughed again. "How _long_ will it take you to realize?" he taunted. "You _can't_ save your brother. No matter what. And sadly, that goes for Lizzy, too."

Both Sam and Dean were confused, they knew that only Liz had made that deal. "Oh yeah? I kill you, this all ends _now_ ," Sam stated and began putting pressure on the stake.

"Oh-oh, hey, whoa!" Loki yelped, feeling the stained wood pressing into his neck. "Okay. Look. I was just playing around. You can't take a joke, _fine_. You're out of it. Tomorrow, you'll wake up, it'll be Wednesday, and Liz will be awake, too. I _swear_."

"You promise?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, I _promise_ ," confirmed Loki. "But if I've lied, then you can find me having pancakes at the diner."

Sam stared at the trickster for a moment and then scowled. "You're lying, I can sense it."

Loki smirked. "Well, that's for _me_ to know, and for _you_ to find out, Sammy." And he snapped his fingers, causing everything to go dark.

* * *

 _`"_ _Promise me I'll be back in time_ _."`_

Sam snapped awake and immediately sat up, momentarily confused as he looked around the room, and then realized that the song was different. He glanced toward the bathroom, where Dean was currently brushing his teeth next to the sink.

"What, you gonna sleep all day?" Dean asked, glancing at his brother before rinsing his toothbrush, and it was clear by his tone of voice, that he _wasn't_ a happy camper.

"No Asia," Sam said blankly, trying to wrap his head around what was happening. Was it _really_ Wednesday?

"Yeah, I know," Dean complained. "This station sucks."

Sam _finally_ stared at the clock radio and gasped when he saw that it was _actually_ saying WED. "It's Wednesday!"

Dean rolled his eyes. "Yeah, usually comes after Tuesday. Turn that thing off, will you?" he requested since it wasn't one of his favorite songs.

Sam leapt out of bed, grinning, and grabbed his shirt. "What, are you _kidding_ me? This isn't the most _beautiful_ song you've ever heard?"

"No," Dean answered, bewildered. "How many Tuesdays did you have?"

Sam threw a long-sleeved shirt over his T-shirt. "I don't know. I lost count," he confessed, which was true, and then paused, realizing something. "Hey, wait. What do you remember?"

Dean shrugged. "I remember you were pretty whacked out of it yesterday and then I remember running into the Trickster," he admitted. "But no, that's about it."

Sam was relieved, having feared that Loki would've made Dean _remember_ every single time that he'd died during the time loop. "All right. Pack your stuff let's get the _hell_ out of town. _Now_."

Dean pouted. "No breakfast?"

Sam shook his head, having had enough of the diner. "No breakfast. We can get some _after_ we get Liz out of the hospital."

* * *

Barely an hour later, Dean was loading up the Impala. He pulled a shotgun out of the secret compartment, put it in a duffel bag, closed the compartment, put the bag in the trunk, and closed the trunk, just as he heard someone walking up behind him.

"You sure we should just let the Trickster go?" he asked, turning to face the person, but it was Cal, and he was pointing a handgun at him.

"Gimme your wallet," Cal ordered, his hand was trembling.

Dean raised his hands slightly, not liking the look in this guy's eyes. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, buddy, just relax," he suggested, hoping that Sam would get out here and use his Jedi mojo on this guy soon.

"I _am_ relaxed!" Cal snapped, but it was clearly that he was borderline on having a nervous breakdown.

"Okay, all right," Dean said slowly and calmly, calling on the tactics he'd learned from Hotch and Morgan, "nobody wants this to end the wrong way, let's talk about it a sec." _'Sam,_ where _the hell are you?!'_

* * *

Meanwhile, Sam was still in the motel room, tying up his knapsack when he heard the gunshot outside and his insides _dropped_. _'Oh God!'_ "Dean!" he ran out of the room and down the stairs, just as Cal ran around the corner and out of sight. Paying no mind to this, Sam ran out onto the parking lot and saw Dean, who was on his side on the asphalt, blood soaking the front of his shirt.

Letting out a stunned cry, Sam ran over, fell to his knees, and pulled his brother into his arms, not caring that the blood was getting on him. "No, no, no, no, no, hey, hey, come on, not today, not today, this isn't supposed to happen today, come on-" he realized that he couldn't sense his brother's emotions and that he wasn't moving.

"No…no…" He closed his eyes and waited…and nothing happened; breathing hard, he opened his eyes, and Dean was still dead in his arms. Loki _wasn't_ done with them. "I'm supposed to wake up," he cried, burying his face into his brother's shoulder. "I'm _supposed_ to wake up!"

* * *

"What'd you mean there's no Liz Winchester registered as a patient?"

After quickly wrapping up his brother's body and storing it in the trunk, Sam had checked out of the motel, and had zoomed out to the hospital, determined to get his sister before anything _else_ went wrong because of Loki, But when he arrived and found the room that Liz had been in was empty, he'd gone to the front desk to ask where his sister had been moved, and had received more bad news.

"I'm sorry, sir," the nurse apologized, having checked the system twice, "but we have no version of an Elizabeth Winchester _anywhere_ in our system."

Sam couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Listen, I brought my sister in here _two_ nights ago because she'd fallen into a coma with no warning signs of _any_ kind, and Dr. Wright was looking after her."

The nurse gave him a blank look. "Who is Dr. Wright?"

Sam felt his insides freeze. "He – he's the physician who'd been looking after Liz."

"I'm sorry, sir, but we don't have a Dr. Wright on our staff," the nurse informed him, "and no Liz or Elizabeth Winchester registered as a patient either."

Sam clutched the desk, feeling as if his world was crashing down around him. Dean was _really_ dead, and Liz had vanished into thin air! "I – sorry-" unable to say or do anything else, he left, his thoughts and feelings in turmoil. He'd lost _both_ of his siblings and he knew who was to blame. _Loki!_

* * *

A/N: Will Sam find the Trickster and get his siblings back? Stay tune for more next week! R&R everyone!


	4. Chapter 4: SIX MONTHS OF HELL

Supernatural: Mystery Spot

A/N: Here's the final chapter of this story, folks. This are going to be grim for the most part, but the ending will be slightly happier, but not by much.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from _Supernatural_ or _Criminal Minds_ ; I just own the characters that I happen to create.

* * *

 **CHAPTER FOUR: SIX MONTHS OF HELL**

" _The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God."_

 _Psalms 9:17_

Dean was dead and Liz was missing.

This was the thought that ran through Sam's mind constantly the next six months, after burning Dean's body, he'd all but shut down emotionally as he drove all over the U.S., hunting for Loki, and killing _every_ dark creature that crossed his path, including demons, with the Colt.

Bobby left him messages nearly everyday that he never responded to. The BAU team pleaded with him to let them help, but he ignored them. Ellen and Jo offered to help, and he politely refused. Ruby did approach him after the first month, wanting to help, but he used her own knife on her, burning the body to ashes to be safe, and continued hunting on his own, exhausting _every single_ lead he found.

The only time he performed an exorcism was when he was in New York and he found both Elle Greenaway and Jason Gideon possessed by a couple of demons. After freeing them, he left before either could offer any help or advice. Sam did cross paths with Henriksen in Texas during the third month, but he used his Jedi trick to send the federal agent on his way since he didn't have any quarrel with him.

It was during the halfway point of the fifth month that he learned that Gordon and his cronies were going after Hannah and Ricky in Utah. When he got there, Lloyd was dead, both Elvis and Johnny were in the hospital in critical condition, and Gordon was holding Melinda and Samuel hostage in a barn just outside Park City.

Furious, Sam helped Hannah and Ricky save them, and then he brutally killed Gordon, Kubrick, Creedy, Hawkeye, and Kirk with his abilities, leaving very little behind.

Toward the end of the sixth month was when Sam _finally_ listened to his messages and learned something important.

 _`"_ _Sam? It's Bobby. I found him_ _."`_

* * *

When Sam arrived back at the Mystery Spot, Bobby was kneeling on the floor turning the pages of a book, which was lying in the middle of a chalked diagram with three candles and three bowls of unidentified substances. "Bobby."

"It's good to see you, boy," said Bobby warmly, standing up and hugging him, but didn't get a response; he pulled back and eyed the younger man. "Man, when was the last time you got any sleep, son?"

"I'll sleep once Loki's dead," Sam responded coldly, surprising the older man. "What are we doing here, Bobby?"

Bobby blinked and then sighed. "Well, it's the last place we're sure the Trickster worked his magic."

"So?" Sam asked, disinterested.

"So you _want_ this thing?" Bobby countered. "I found a summoning ritual to bring the Trickster here."

"What do we need?" Sam asked, with faint hope.

"Well," Bobby began hesitating, "this spell requires human blood, and _a lot_ of it."

"How much blood?" Sam asked.

Bobby grimaced. "Ritual says near a gallon. And it's gotta be fresh, too."

Sam frowned. "Meaning we have to bleed a person dry."

Bobby nodded. "And it's gotta be tonight," he added. "Or not for another fifty years."

Sam shrugged. "Ok, I'll just grab a homeless guy of the street, and-"

"No!" Bobby protested, alarmed. "Sam, you're talkin' about killin' a person."

"So?" Sam asked spitefully. "I _personally_ tore apart Gordon and his thugs with just a _single thought_ , Bobby. So, I can do this with or without you."

Bobby stared at the young man, shocked by how much he'd changed and then swallowed. "Sam, I – I understand that, and that's I'm offerin' myself."

Sam stared, confused. "Wait, what?"

"Sam," Bobby said seriously, "I'm willin' to die so that you can kill this thing, and maybe, _just_ maybe, get Liz back at least. You, Liz, and Dean, you guys are the closest thing I have to family. I wanna do this."

Sam didn't know what to say, Bobby was a father figure that he'd relied on, and to hear this offer.

"Bobby, I-" Sam paused, realizing something – he'd forgotten about his empathic ability… _again!_

 _CLICK!_

Bobby jumped and stared, startled, at the barrel of the Colt, and Sam's barely controlled anger. "Sam, what-?"

"You're _not_ Bobby," Sam snapped, his eyes narrowed. "You're an illusion."

"What're you talkin' about?" 'Bobby' demanded. "I'm real."

Sam shook his head, positive that he was right. "No, you're not," he countered. "Your emotions _aren't_ human. This _whole_ time, I _never_ used my empathic ability, not _once_." He tightened his grip on the gun. "Show yourself, Loki… _now!_ "

For several seconds, nothing happen, and then 'Bobby' faded away, and Loki appeared, clapping. "Well, well, well…you won this round, Sammy."

Sam growled, pulling out a bloodstained pine stake. " _Don't_ call me, Sammy. You've put me through _six months of hell!_ You took _away_ my family!" he then lunged forward, only to have the demi-god easily sidestep his attack. "Hey!"

"Sammy, Sammy," Loki tsked, avoiding Sam's repeated attempts to kill him, and then easily knocked the pine stake to the floor, "I was only showing you what _might_ happen once the year is up for your siblings, and you lose them both."

"' _Both_ of them'?" Sam repeated, confused. "What're you talkin' about? Liz was the _only one_ to make the deal."

Loki stared at him for a moment and then sighed, disappointed. "You _still_ don't get it, do you?"

"Get what?" Sam asked, struggling with his anger and breathing hard. "That if I lose them both, I'll emotionally shutdown, walk away from my friends, and become a cold-stone killer? Become worse then my own _father_? Yeah, I _get_ it, and now I want my brother and sister _back_. _Please_."

Loki shook his head sadly. "I'm not so sure that you fully understand, kid."

"I _do_ get it!" Sam cried, falling to his knees, tears streaming down his cheeks. "I – I _get_ it…I can't save Liz anymore then I could save my dad…but I _have_ to try, I can't abandon my family. I can't." he then looked up at Loki, who was watching him. "Please give them back, and we leave this town and not interfere with you."

"Really?" Loki asked, surprised. "You'll give up your hunt and just leave?"

Sam nodded. "Yes, I promise, _please_."

' _I shouldn't, but he's been through enough…I hope,'_ Loki thought. "All right, I accept," he agreed, "but if you're still here come sundown…all bets are off."

Sam tearfully agreed, and Loki snapped his fingers, causing him to fall into darkness again.

* * *

 _`"Promise me I'll be back in time."`_

Sam snapped awake, sat up, and looked at the alarm clock" 8:00 am WED. "Wednesday," he whispered, and then saw Dean, who was brushing his teeth next to the sink. "Dean…"

"What, you gonna sleep all day?" Dean asked, rinsing out his mouth and washing off his toothbrush while Sam just stared. "I know, no Asia. This station sucks."

Sam swallowed, wondering if this was really real. "It's Wednesday."

Dean nodded. "Yeah, usually comes after Tuesday. Turn that thing off."

Instead of doing that, Sam threw off the covers and pulled Dean into a hug. After several awkward seconds, Dean broke the hug by taking a step back and stared at his brother's tearful expression. "Dude, how many Tuesdays did you have?"

"Too many," Sam answered "What, uh, what do you remember?"

"Other then the incident at the diner and learin' that Loki's still alive, not much," Dean admitted. "Why?"

"I'll explain later," Sam told him, wiping away his tears. "Right now, we need to get the _hell_ out of Dodge, and pick up Liz from the hospital."

"What about the case?" Dean asked, watching as Sam grabbed some clean clothes and hurried toward the bathroom. "Sam?"

 _`"Later!"`_

* * *

By the time they had checked out and were heading toward Fort Lauderdale that Dean finally had enough.

"Ok, Sam, _why_ are we abandonin' the case?" he demanded.

Sam sighed. "Because if we don't…Loki will kill you again, and take away Liz… forever."

Dean frowned. "That makes _no_ sense, Sam."

"I know."

* * *

At the medical center, Sam and Dean were relived to find that Liz was awake and that she was arguing with Dr. Wright.

"I'm _fine_ ," Liz snapped, pulling on her boots. "So, _stop_ botherin' me!"

"Ms. Winchester, you've been unconscious," Dr. Wright explained patiently, "I just want to make sure that you don't have an underlining condition that could cause a relapse."

Liz sighed, frustrated, but she didn't blame the doctor for being cautious. The last thing she clearly remembered was trying to get her bag out of the trunk, and then waking up in the hospital bed to find that it was now Wednesday, which meant that she'd lost _at least_ two days. "Sir, I can _assure_ you that I'm fine… _great_ in fact."

Dr. Wright opened his mouth when Sam and Dean entered, resulting in a joyful reunion. "Gentlemen, I don't suppose that one of you can convince your sister to let me run a few tests to make sure that she won't relapse?"

"There's no need to run those tests," Sam told him, nudging the man's mind. "Everything's fine."

"Of course, I'll get the release forms," Dr. Wright said, and left the room.

Once he was gone, Liz faced her brothers. "Guys, _what the hell is going on around here?"_ she demanded.

"Well, the trickster, Loki, is still alive, and he pulled a Groundhog's Day on Sam," Dean answered, "and the sooner we get out of here, the better."

"Yeah," Sam agreed as the doctor returned.

* * *

After filling out the release forms and leaving Florida, the Winchesters holed up in a different motel, where Dean and Liz _finally_ got the entire story out of Sam, including the six months of hell.

"So Loki made us the moment we arrived," Liz remarked. "But _how_ did he not die when you stabbed him, Dean?"

"Must've been a replica," Dean answered. "Sort of like Billy Numberous."

"Who?" Sam asked.

Dean groaned. "Dude, you're impossible. Billy Numberous is this little known Batman villain, who can create doubles of himself."

"Well, if he can create realistic illusions, then it's possible for him to create one of himself," Liz remarked, her expression darkening, "and it's _also_ explains how he keeps gettin' the drop on me."

Both Dean and Sam agreed with that assessment, and then reluctantly, they went back to Sam's experiences within the time loop.

"It was horrible," said Sam quietly, his hair hanging in front of his face. "No matter what I did, you kept dyin', Dean, over and over and _over_ again Those six months without you two…I shut down emotionally and the things I did – what I _did_ to Gordon-"

"Sam," Liz said, grabbing her brother's hands, and making him look up, "it wasn't real. It probably _felt_ real, but it _wasn't_ real, and it won't _ever_ happen 'cause we're gonna get me out of that deal once and for all."

Sam smiled slightly and then laughed when Dean commented that he'd like to seen Gordon get ripped to pieces, Liz kicked him in the shin, and this lead to a pillow fight of doom. They were still a family and that was all that mattered.

* * *

A/N: And that wraps up this story, folks. See you all next week for the next one. R&R everyone!


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